95 



some care of already. For the immense Government woods, they have been placed under 

 the care of the Minister of Public Domains, who has a director of the Forest Department, 

 and the organizatioiji of the service is very complete. For the purpose of fitting young 

 men for the duties of forest agents and agriculturists, either for the Government service 

 or upon private estates, two special schools of agriculture and forestry have been estab- 

 lished — one at St. Petersburg, and one near Moscow. The course of instruction extends 

 through three or four years, and the schools are placed near forests, where every detail 

 is illustrated. There is also another forest school at Lissino, of the second grade, 

 where the course is very practical. 



Sweden. 



In 1859 a bureau of Forest Administration was created. Forest regulations, how- 

 ever, extend back to 1647, and even before that, private owners were required to plant 

 and protect from cattle two trees for each one cut. 



In 1868 a commission was appointed, under the direction of Mr. E. V. Alinquist, 

 to enquire into the need of further legislation, and in December, 1870, he submitted a re- 

 port with a bUl, making 392 pages, besides numerous tables. 



One clause in the reported bill is a compulsory feature, which, though less stringent, 

 is in the spirit of the enactments now in force in most of the countries of continental 

 Europe, namely, forbidding trees to be cut for sale smaller than eleven inches at the butt, 

 or eight inches sixteen Swedish feet therefrom. 



India. 



The necessity of preserving tropical forests has fortunately attracted the attention of 

 Government in British India, where the importance of maintaining an equilibrium of tem- 

 perature and humidity is of much immediate consequence to the social welfare ; and the 

 growing demands of railroad use, and the various applications of the arts, render it a sub- 

 ject of direct practical utility. 



The matter has been agitated since 1850, and in 1864, Government laid the founda- 

 tion of an improved general system of forest administration, for the whole Indian empire, 

 having for its object the conservation of state forests, and the development of this source 

 of national wealth. The experience acquired in the forest schools of France and Germany 

 has been brought to apply in this great national undertaking. Among the more impor- 

 tant general principles laid down for the execution of this measure is that all superior 

 Government forests are reserved and made inalienable, and their boundaries marked out 

 to distinguish them from waste lands available for the public. The Act of 1864, defining 

 the nature of forest rules and penalties, has been adopted by most of the local govern- 

 ments, and the executive arrangements are left to the local administrations. Various 

 surveys have been made to obtain accurate data concerning the geographical and botani- 

 cal characteristics of the reserved tracts, and the kind of timber best adapted for various 

 localities has been carefully ascertained. 



In 1866, the Government resolved upon sending out five young men, duly qualified 

 by education in the forest schools of France and Germany, for the forest department of 

 India. An arrangement was made the same year by which forest oflicers in the India 



